Ramen Is Not A Rejection Meal
by Kagolena
Summary: College AU - Happy Valentine's Day! Inuyasha got tongue tied trying to talk to his crush, and is waiting to see if they'll respond to his text message.


Groaning, he looked at his phone for the hundredth time that day, hoping, against all hope, he'd see a message.

Hope may be a strong word here though. He was also dreading seeing a message, the message. After all, she could just as easily say no to his question.

He banged his head on his desk, and managed to muffle out "You don't think I read the signs wrong, do you Miroku?"

Sitting on the bed on the opposite side of the wall, his roommate rolled his eyes and sighed, before responding, "Inuyasha, if what you told me about her asking if you had any plans today, especially this day, is true, then no, I don't think you read the signs wrong at all. You just royally fucked yourself when you just replied no, and didn't ask any follow up questions!"

"I was freaking out! How the fuck was I supposed to know I should've asked her about her plans?" Inuyasha growled out.

"Maybe because that's how normal conversation flows?" questioned the religious studies major, in a way Inuyasha could just hear the sarcasm dripping from it.

"Fuck off monk"

"If I was a monk, dear Inuyasha, would I have a date with the lovely Sango tonight?" replied Miroku.

At this, Inuyasha whirled around to see his roommate with the biggest grin on his face, eyes glazed over as he no doubt thought unseemly things about Sango, also known as the girl who would one hundred percent kill Miroku for trying any of those unseemly things with her tonight.

"How the hell did you manage that you pervert?" exclaimed Inuyasha, golden eyes widening in disbelief.

"Because I, my friend, know how to hold a conversation. And I asked. I swear Inuyasha, she's the only girl for me" the boy replied dreamily.

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha's eyes returned to his phone, impatiently tapping at the screen to see if he had any messages at all. He had texted her two hours ago. And nothing. He really wanted to text her again – he wasn't sure if he wanted to ask again or just act like the whole thing was a joke, but either way he couldn't seem to get past the line blinking in the message box.

His ears swiveled around as he heard Miroku hop off his bed, and start putting on his shoes. Without turning around he asked blithely, "See ya back here after Sango slaps you after you try to touch her butt?"

"Why Inuyasha, I would hope you know me better than that!" the monk replied aghast.

"The problem is really that I know you too well" he replied, leaning back in his chair so Miroku could see him roll his eyes.

"I'm wounded! But nevertheless, you will be seeing me back here tonight, as I intend to deliver Sango right back into the safety of her dorm with Kagome, where she will inevitably also be tonight, as someone doesn't know how to talk to girls" Miroku replied cheekily, quickly leaving the dorm and letting the door close behind him.

Inuyasha flew off his chair ready to pulverize the asshole, but even with his enhanced speed the monk was too fucking fast.

Groaning again, Inuyasha threw himself onto his bed, and tried to decide if it was too pathetic ordering a heart shaped pizza for himself to the dorms, or if it was better to just have ramen for dinner again and not let anyone see that he was alone on fucking Valentine's Day.

Just as he was about to get up to heat water for his dejection noodles, Inuyasha heard his phone ping.

Even for a half demon he didn't think he had ever moved that fast in his life.

Holding the phone reverently, he stared at the notification that he had a message. A heavy sense of trepidation fell over him as he prepared to open the text. This would either go really, really well, or end up with the dejection noodles turning into rejection noodles. He didn't really want ramen to have _that_ sort of connotation to hang around with him the rest of his life. Before opening the message, he quickly decided if this was a rejection, he'd forgo the ramen, and just eat straight from the box of cereal he had on the shelf. That seemed like a better rejection meal than the glorious substance that ramen was.

Tapping open the message, he read, "Hey Inuyasha, I'm really sorry, but I've got a huge anatomy test tomorrow and I'm kinda just staying in to study tonight".

All the air seemed to leave his body in that instant. He had read all the signs fucking wrong. He had let the monk talk him into texting her inviting her out to dinner, only to get rejected! Growling again, he was just about ready to throw the damned phone across the room when the phone pinged again.

"But, and you totally do not have to do this, you could come over and help me study! And I need a study break soon anyways so I can order us some pizza, and maybe we can watch something on Netflix?" the message read, the half demon reading the words so fast he had to read it three times over just to fully comprehend what she was saying.

''Not. A. Rejection!'' Inuyasha yelled out, almost dropping his phone as he pumped his fist into the air.

Now only to figure out what the hell to text back. 'Sure, I'll be right over!' seemed too eager, and even his standby 'Keh' seemed to blasé.

"Maybe drop the exclamation point?", he thought, trying it out.

Nope.

"Okay, maybe just 'Sounds good, I'll be over soon', is good" he thought as he quickly typed it out. Before he had a chance to second guess his choice of words he pressed send.

Almost immediately after another message bubbled under his saying "Great! I'll order now!".

And now his throat was dry and he felt like he couldn't breath for a wholly different reason. Holy shit he had a date with Kagome Higurashi!

He did, didn't he?

Inuyasha sank down into his chair with his head in his hands. "God damn it!" he growled out, before shooting up to get ready to go.

It had taken him a total of thirty minutes to get out of his dorm, a whole 25 minutes longer than it normally did. How was he supposed to know to dress for a possible date that could very well just be Kagome wanting help from a friend to study? Why couldn't he just throw on whatever, just like he normally did?

Walking the path to her dorm, he felt his heart skip a little in his chest. This, however, was normal for him. Every time he was about to even talk to the girl he felt like he was about to fall over from nerves. Taking a deep breath, he decided to run the rest of the way to her dorm, better to get there faster and have less time to think about all they ways he could fuck this up.

Quickly getting to the building, he swiped in and bounded up the stairs. No sense waiting for an elevator, and then having time to stand there and think if you've got super speed.

As he stood outside the door to her dorm, he raised his hand to knock, and then slowly lowered it.

"Okay. Everything is going to go fine. You've studied with her before back when we had calculus together, this isn't any different except that you're not having to ask her for help with derivatives – see already better. You just get to read some flashcards off to her or something" he thought as he nervously tapped his foot on the floor.

Quickly, he rapped on the door two times, and tried to quell the queasiness in his stomach.

All of the sudden the door opened, with Kagome standing there in all her beauty, a giant smile across her face.

Immediately he felt at ease, as he always did when he saw that smile. It amazed him how that one simple thing could make him feel so relaxed – not that he still didn't get nervous!

She stood there in black sweatpants and a grey buttoned shirt, black hair falling in waves around her shoulders. Unconsciously, Inuyasha took in a deep inhale, and smelled her scent – so like the smell of wildflowers in the sun on a warm day, and relaxed even more.

"Thank you so much for coming!" she said, blue eyes sparkling up at him. "The pizza is already here but would you mind if I go through a system with you a few times first? I just need to really get them down before taking a break! Normally Sango does them with me, but she's out with Miroku…" she rambled, as a slight pink dusting settled across the bridge of her nose.

Inuyasha's lips pulled themselves into a smirk as he replied, "Keh, whatever" as he made his way into the room, sitting down at the desk chair.

Kagome settled down on her bed, and handed him flashcards. "Okay, we're going over cranial nerves. I've gotta know what they're named, what they do, and how to test for deficits in them" she said, as her face became set seriously.

Glancing down at the notecards, all Inuyasha could see were roman numerals. Quickly counting the cards, he realized there were only twelve. Maybe this would be easier than he thought. Quickly he shuffled the cards so they were out of order.

"Um, cranial nerve two?" he asked.

Looking up, he saw Kagome mouthing words to herself, and counting on her fingers.

"Optic nerve. Vision. Um… visual field testing?" she said, brow furrowed in concentration.

Flipping over the card, he saw that her answer correlated with what she had written on the back, so he nodded at her and moved on to the next card.

"Cranial nerve five"

Looking up he saw her counting on her fingers again, mouthing words. Unable to contain his curiosity, he asked "Hey wench, what the hell are you doing?"

Rolling her eyes at the nickname she used to hate with a passion, the girl smiled and said, "Oh, it's a silly mnemonic to help remember the order of the cranial nerves. Its "On Old Olympus Towering Tops A Finn And German Viewed Some Hops" so effectively, I know the first three have to be either the optic nerve, olfactory nerve, or oculomotor nerve. The real problem is remembering which nerve comes first – like cranial nerve five is either trigeminal or trochlear, but I really can't remember…" she sighed, scrunching up her nose.

Blinking up at her, Inuyasha asked, "So do you want me to tell you the answer…?"

"No no, give me a minute – Sango helped me come up with some movements to help remember the order… Let's see…" she trailed off, and scrunched up her nose again, brought her finger to the side of each eye, then rolled her eyes, crossed her eyes, and then finally tap her forehead, cheek, and chin.

"What in the actual hell Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, eyes wide after the strangest display he had ever seen in his life, trying to not laugh at the girl.

Rolling her eyes yet again Kagome said, "It's what each nerve controls you dummy. Sango helped me come up with it so I can quickly run through it with the mnemonic if I need to. So – cranial nerve five is the trigeminal nerve, and it controls sensation in the forehead, maxilla and mandible, and I can test it with sensation or having a patient chew".

Quickly flipping over the card, Inuyasha's eyebrows raised "Fucking right, wench!" he said as he grinned up at her, a fang popping out over his lower lip.

Again the pink dusted over her nose, and she gestured for him to carry on with the flashcards.

They went through the cards five times, and by the end Kagome was flying through them, barely needing to stop and sing her mnemonic or do her crazy movements. Inuyasha's favorite had been when she stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed, asking her if she was really going to stick her tongue out at her test tomorrow. She had thrown a pillow at him.

Currently they were sitting on her bed, her legs tucked to her side and his crossed, with her seemingly endless piles of pillows behind their backs, eating slices of pizza, watching a movie.

Oh yeah, and she had ordered one of the heart pizzas, and had even blushed when he had opened the box, merely shrugging her shoulders and changing the subject when he looked at her questioningly. Grinning to himself again, he was pretty damn sure he wasn't misreading the signs. But the thought of trying to ask her on a date or even trying to put an arm around her right now was absolutely paralyzing. That and he was pissed she was making him watch Pride and Prejudice – a movie which she had actually downloaded onto her computer since she loved it so much. Rolling his eyes, he settled in, feeling the warmth from the girl beside him and trying to suppress the nerves that seemed to have come back again.

He thought the movie was slow and stuffy, but glancing at down at the girl next to him, the look in her eyes was enough to shut him up about complaining.

Turning back to watch, he suddenly felt her head fall against his shoulder. Holy. Shit.

Trying not to tense up, he looked down again, and saw her curled up against his side, hair falling across his chest as she continued watching, but didn't miss the pink across her nose and her cheeks. Even his own cheeks felt warm! He settled in, and decided he'd rest his head against hers.

The next thing he knew, a light was blinding him.

"Hey Kagome!" a feminine voice yelled out, followed by a "and hello Inuyasha!"

Squinting against the light, he saw Sango standing at the door, with a wide grin on her face.

"Miroku was fucking right that pervert!" she muttered under her breath, and Inuyasha was only able to pick up due to his hearing.

He felt a body move next to him, and realized he and Kagome had both fallen asleep like that, computer screen dark, and Kagome rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Um, hey Sango, Inuyasha was just helping me study and we took a break. Guess I was more tired than I thought" Kagome said, a soft smile crossing her face as she looked up at Inuyasha.

"Um, yeah, guess I'll be going now. See ya later" Inuyasha said sheepishly, grabbing his coat from the chair. "Good luck on the test tomorrow, you'll ace it." He offered, giving her a small smile back as he headed to the door.

"Wait! Let me walk you downstairs" the girl quickly said, grabbing her keys and shoving on some slippers. "It's the least I can do – plus I can drop off the pizza box in the recycling bin on the way down!"

Heart skipping a beat, Inuyasha managed a small "Keh". Was this really happening?

"Bye you two" Sango sang out as they walked out the door, and Inuyasha felt himself blush again. Tentatively, he reached out his hand. "Um, let me take the box for you".

Smiling up at him, she handed him the box as they walked down the hallway towards the trash room.

"Thanks again Inuyasha. I really do appreciate it" she said, and as he looked into her blue eyes he felt like he could get lost.

Blinking quickly, the half demon managed "Like I said, you're going to do well tomorrow. You didn't need me at all".

Opening the door for the trash room, Inuyasha placed the box in recycling, and joined Kagome at the elevators. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself against his next move. It was now or never.

"Um, if you want, I could take you out for dinner tomorrow after your exam?" he asked, feeling like he was about to die from the way his stomach was rolling.

Looking at Kagome, he saw her smile grow even wider, and he basked in its radiance. "I'd really like that, Inuyasha".

And then she reached out her hand, and he felt her soft fingers curl around his palm as he sucked in a deep breath. Frozen to the spot, he stared at their hands intertwined, and felt tingles run up and down his arm. The elevator ding brought him back to his senses, and he grabbed her hand back and smiled back, fang slipping out again.

Stepping onto the elevator they rode down in comfortable silence, hands still entwined. He had never once felt this way about anyone. He had had a girlfriend or two before, but it never felt like this – so right. The way he could be nervous and relaxed at the same time was completely foreign to him, yet he still felt like he could be completely himself around her. Deep down he knew that even if he did say something stupid she wouldn't make fun of him and never talk to him again. She wasn't like that.

Stepping off the elevator, they walked hand in hand towards the doors, where he stopped and turned to look down at her.

His breath left again as he took in how beautiful she was in that moment – hair still mussed from how she had fallen asleep on his shoulder, blue eyes shining up at him, and that lovely blush yet again across her face. Inuyasha felt like he was the luckiest half demon in the world at that moment.

"Inuyasha I…" she whispered out, face so close to his own he felt her breath across his face.

"Shut up wench" he said as he smirked at her, and brought his lips crashing down on her own.

The electric shock that went down his body was no joke, as he placed one hand on her waist, and tangled another in her hair, and he felt her arms wrap around his neck as they deepened the kiss.

The kiss seemed to last forever and no time at all. Breaking apart she beamed up at him, lips swollen from their kiss, she teasingly asked "Pick me up at 5 tomorrow?"

Leaning down to kiss her again, Inuyasha smirked as he replied "On the dot", and captured her lips in another bruising kiss.


End file.
